Homeschooling in America
Capturing and Assessing the Movement
- Joseph Murphy - Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
After School & Extra-Curricular Programmes | Leadership & Management | Learning Styles
This book is the definitive study on homeschooling in the United States, delving into a movement that impacts more students nationwide than the entire charter school movement. In 2010, more than 2 million students were homeschooled. This book explores:
- The history of homeschooling in America.
- How this movement has grown in credibility and enrollment exponentially
- The current state of homeschooling, including questions over who gets homeschooled, why, and what is the success—academically and in life—of students who are homeschooled
- The impact of homeschooling on the student and on American society
In the most extensive survey and analysis of research on homeschooling, spanning the birth of the movement in the 1970s to today, Homeschooling in America shines a light on one of the most important yet least understood social movements of the last forty years and what it means for education today.
"Despite its vast expansion in recent years to two million students, homeschooling is the least understood component of American education. Joseph Murphy has produced the most comprehensive review of the homeschooling movement in this must-read book for both the curious and the expert. His findings will astonish the reader with a display of the wide diversity of homeschooling situations, students, and outcomes."
"A much-needed book that chronicles homeschooling’s emergence from a small fringe movement only decades ago to its stature today as a legitimate alternative to the traditional public schooling model in the United States. Joseph Murphy provides an overarching interpretive framework to help the reader understand why homeschooling is expanding, who participates, what happens in homeschooling instruction, and what research tells us about educational impacts of those who are homeschooled. A balanced analysis that is both wide in scope and deep in the insights it offers."
“Though homeschooling has been growing rapidly as a form of school choice, it is not well understood or well studied. This comprehensive book stands in the gap. It examines the history of homeschooling in the United States and the forces behind its dramatic growth. It offers a thorough description of homeschoolers and their families. And it takes a serious look at instructional programs, teaching methods, and academic and social outcomes. Homeschooling in America not only makes a significant contribution to the bank of homeschooling research, but it provides direction to where further research is badly needed.”